Drifter Buoys Aid Seaweed Research
from the NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, The University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Utrecht University aim to understand where the free-floating, kelp-like algae originates and how its environment is changing, so that action can be taken.The research team built 20 buoys equipped with Globalstar's SPOT Trace trackers and placed them across the North Equatorial Recirculation Region (NERR) in the summer of 2019.Most surface ocean research projects use bulky 10-meter-deep drifters but when the Dutch research team heard about how Nico Wienders at the Florida State University used tiny
NATO Uses IoT to Study the Oceans
Globalstar Europe Satellite Services Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Globalstar Inc., said that scientists from the NATO’s Science and Technology Organization (NATO STO) are deploying an IoT solution using SPOT Trace and Globalstar satellite communications to further their understanding of the world’s oceans.Research teams from the NATO STO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), based in La Spezia, Italy, are embedding SPOT Trace devices in freely drifting buoys and setting them afloat in the Mediterranean and in Arctic waters to monitor surface drift behaviour. SPOT
Globalstar Satellite Technology to Combat North Sea Pollution
Globalstar Europe Satellite Services Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Globalstar Inc. and satellite messaging and emergency notification technologies provider, announced that SPOT Trace and Globalstar satellite communications are helping researchers at the University of Oldenburg in Germany better understand and combat plastic pollution in the North Sea. A team from the University’s Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment is studying the movement of floating plastic pollution to get a clear picture of the drift patterns. PhD student Jens Meyerjürgens explains:
Meet the CARTHE Drifter
with very low overheads in record time, thus reducing the price of the instrument and increasing large volume availability. The instrument is activated by a magnetic switch and can send its position every 5 minutes for a period of up to 3 months with meter accuracy using very-low cost GlobalStar Simplex telemetry systems. The client can receive the data in real-time through the Pacific Gyre LLC website, the official distributor of CARTHE drifters. Moreover, the “drogue-less” torus float can be deployed alone for surface oil slick tracking purposes. An air-dropped
Development & Deployment of Brazil’s First Buoy System
were completed by AMBIDADOS in Rio. The data logger is a Campbell Scientific CR1000 with daily data telemetry undertaken by an onboard INMARSAT transmitter, a Skywave IsatData Pro with and integrated GPS system for buoy positioning and watch circle monitoring. A second, positioning device (GlobalStar Tracker) is also installed on the tower shelf for back-up buoy position monitoring should the Skywave system go down. The complete system is powered by an onboard battery pack that supplies the necessary power for a 12-month deployment. The mooring chosen for the ATLAS-B application is
February 2024
